Campylobacter rectus (CR) is an exclusively oral, Gram-negative anaerobe and mobile bacterium that shows a wide range of virulence factors. A 41-year-old woman came to the emergency department because she felt intense radiating pain in the whole abdomen. A molecular biology analysis rapidly revealed a tubo-ovarian abscess caused by CR. A focal infection of periodontal origin was the most probable; nevertheless the possibility of a cross-contamination from her husband suffering from an active periodontal disease was the subject of discussions. The incidence of focal infections due to CR is probably underestimated. The introduction of molecular biology in common practice should reveal a larger number of CR focal infection cases but more generally speaking of bacteria from the oral cavity.

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